She wanted to be treated “in accordance with her conscience”: A Jehovah's Witness sued Spain on Wednesday before the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) over blood transfusions she received against her will.
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Rosa Edelmira Pindo Mulla, a 53-year-old Ecuadorian, filed a petition in March 2020 with this court, which rules on violations of the European Convention on Human Rights in the 46 countries that have ratified this text.
During Wednesday's hearing before the Grand Chamber of the ECtHR, its highest body, one of his lawyers, Petr Muzny, reiterated that she was “a victim of medical paternalism.”
“South American immigrant” who speaks Spanish with an accent, “little woman,” member of Jehovah’s Witnesses who is “often the subject of prejudice and stereotypes,” Ms. Pindo Mulla is an “easy target for this medical paternalism,” he claimed.
Jehovah's Witnesses, a movement founded in the United States in the 1870s by Charles Russell, consider themselves to be the only ones who have been able to restore original Christianity. They are regularly accused of sectarian excesses because of their strict rules, including the refusal of blood transfusions.
For Me Muzny, Ms. Pindo Mulla “wanted to be treated according to her conscience” and “expressed this on several occasions.”
For her part, Heide-Elena Nicolas Martinez, representative of the Spanish government, emphasized the context of “great urgency” in which a decision on the care of Ms. Pindo Mulla was made.
The case dates back to July 2017: after medical examinations, Ms. Pindo Mulla was advised to undergo surgery.
She then presented three documents – a living will, a long-term power of attorney and a consent form – in which she stated that she would refuse any blood transfusion, even if her life was in danger. She stated that she accepts any medical treatment that does not involve the use of blood.
“Injured”
On June 6, 2018, Ms. Pindo Mulla was admitted to the Soria Hospital, where she resides, before being transferred to a hospital in Madrid the next day due to bleeding.
After learning that she was a Jehovah's Witness, the anesthesiologists at this hospital sought the opinion of the judge on duty, who approved all the necessary medical interventions to save her life.
Ms. Pindo Mulla then underwent surgery and received blood transfusions.
When she found out, she cried and felt “scandalized,” “hurt,” Me Muzny said as her client listened to her while sitting next to her with her face closed. She did not comment during the hearing.
“The situation required a very quick response,” emphasized Nicolas Martinez, representative of the Spanish government. “Having established that there was indeed a serious and imminent danger to the patient’s life” and “taking into account the lack of absolute certainty” about her will at that time, the judge “authorized the doctors to carry out the necessary medical measures. “Treatment to save his life,” she explained.
Addressing the 17 judges, his colleague Alfonso Brezmes Martinez de Villareal said: “After you leave this room, you must weigh the message you want to send to the health authorities who are dedicating their lives to saving other people in very urgent and urgent situations Dedicate yourself to situations.” difficult.
“Absolute right of refusal”
After challenging the duty judge's decision and losing in a court in Spain, Ms Pindo Mulla appealed to the ECtHR, relying on Articles 8 (right to respect for private life) and 9 (right to freedom of thought, conscience and freedom of religion). ) of the European Convention on Human Rights.
One of his lawyers, Shane Brady, asked the court to rule that “a patient of full mental capacity has the absolute right to refuse any recommended surgery or treatment, even if that surgery or treatment is deemed medically necessary.”
This decision could “create legal certainty and improve doctor-patient communication for the benefit of all patients,” he emphasized.
At the end of the oral hearing, the court reserved its decision. That should be known in a few months.